


moondust

by hyuckwei



Series: you’re out of this world (literally) [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alien!Ten, Alternate Universe - Aliens, Astronaut!Johnny, Feelings Realization, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Reincarnation, Sort Of, Soulmates, Temporary Amnesia, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-24 05:01:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17698124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyuckwei/pseuds/hyuckwei
Summary: johnny was chosen among 100 finalists to take a one-way ticket to mars for research in hopes of creating new civilization. but there was a catch: he could never go back home. maybe the sharp-tongued alien telling him to go back to his own planet made leaving behind his home worth it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> another alien/space fic from me !! this takes place in the same universe as my yuwin oneshot (u dont have to read it, i just wanted to write another alien fic in the same universe where Anything is possible. and i mean anything.) except this is may be a tad bit more angsty ?? but dont let the beginning fool you,, so bear with me there ,, enjoy!!!

“ _Ten_.”

 

Johnny almost couldn’t believe it, hearing the just as on-edge voice through his ship’s receiver counting down the seconds until the rocket finally blasted off into Space, heading to the ‘ _Red Planet_ ’ neighboring theirs where no one has been before. This is all he’s ever dreamed of since he was a small child, his impressionable young eyes were wide in amazement when he’d first seen Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story in theatre, thinking he was the coolest man to exist because he was a space ranger and space _hero_.

 

_“Nine.”_

 

Soon Johnny became fascinated with the galaxies in the night sky embedded between the thousands of stars, the planets orbiting their Sun blazing during the hot summers where Johnny would lick up his melting ice cream from his small hands much to his mother’s disapproval. He’d quote Buzz’s _‘To infinity and beyond’_ pledge way too often to annoy his mother into buying him Outer-Space related books and let him stay up past his 6pm bedtime to browse through the family computer in the living room to scour through Space articles. At times bothering his father to leave his study to come help him read the difficult articles a 10 year old couldn’t decipher. Looking like hieroglyphs dating back to Ancient Egypt to little Johnny. Some of which included whether or not Pluto was a planet, making Johnny scoff to his mother in the middle of listing off the new facts he’d learnt. 

 

“Mommy it’s so sad they’re excluding poor Pluto from our family of planets around the Sun, don’t you think? They should just leave it be!”

 

“Johnny your waffles are getting cold please eat them.”

 

“But Mommy—“

 

He liked to still think Pluto was a planet, no matter if technically it wasn’t and he knew it even as an adult.

 

_“_ Eight _.”_

 

When Johnny turned 16 his mother long expected him to give up his geeky astronomy phase she’d always somewhat disliked and get a girlfriend or _something_ to rip away his nose buried deep into astronomical books. Really, despite his mother’s wary looks when he’d come home to show his mother the classes he signed up for included _Astronomy II_ , he couldn’t stop his passion.

 

He started researching about NASA and other space organizations around the world, his father offering to help, being the complete opposite of his opposing mother. Johnny had long decided he wanted to be an astronaut drifting through deep space, no matter how childish it may seem to his peers snickering at him whenever he’d pull out his glasses and scan through his books. He’d show them.

 

_“Seven.”_

 

One thing _did_ put his whirring, ambitious brain to a stop. Much to his own surprise that he’d ever stop thinking about astronomy for one second, his thoughts were filled with one particular person instead. 

 

At 21, he’d already finished college, interning at NASA as a trainee to become an astronaut. His father had helped him reach his goals and his mother was slowly starting to accept the fact that her son would not become a business man or lawyer but an astronaut. He was so close to finally getting a taste of the vast space he’d always wanted to visit, even if it would take years for him to finally feel himself lift off. But his poor, poor father that encouraged him to pursue his outlandish career— had a heart attack and was slowly dying. 

 

Johnny met Ten in the same hospital where his father laid hooked up to machines. Ten was the same, except he was walking around butt-naked save for the thin hospital gown covering his front. Johnny had bumped into him on the way to his father’s room, quickly apologizing when Ten had fallen over rather flimsily in his arms.

 

“Oh my.” The unfamiliar boy at the time gasped, his eyes widening when he saw Johnny holding him from above. He was a whole head shorter than Johnny. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion until the boy beneath him spoke again with accented English, “It seems I’ve quite literally fallen for you.”

 

Johnny felt his whole face heat up in pure embarrassment because of a cute boy for the first time in his life. Ten could only brightly smile up at him at the time before introducing himself as ‘ _Chittaphon_ ’ but Johnny could call him ‘ _Ten_ ’. Johnny just replied with a, _‘Cool. I’m Johnny’_ , not bothering to ask about Ten’s odd nickname. It probably annoyed the boy whenever people would say, ‘ _Like the number?_ ’ And Ten was grateful for Johnny’s understanding nature.

 

Ten ended up becoming the particular person to halt his brain and turn into mush whenever he’d come around that kittenish smirk of his. Johnny never knew what it felt like to be in love, rather, with a _person_ because he devoted his heart to his career and the Sun. He had friends come and go, but never one that stuck around enough to become a potential lover. Girls _and_ boys disliked Johnny’s passion for astronomy so he was afraid of already ruining his friendship with Ten. 

 

He found out in the daily visits for his father (and now Ten, too) that Ten was a foreigner. He grew up in Thailand and moved to Chicago when he was only 14 for his father’s banking job. Ten had liked the arts and danced to difficult choreographies before he’d been permanently stuck to his bed. Then Johnny had, albeit nervously, told Ten he was into astronomy and wanted to become an astronaut in the future, Ten smiled and looked at him in the same amazement 10 year old Johnny had for Buzz Lightyear. Admiration. 

 

And Johnny might have had a teensy crush on him already.

 

“ _Six_.”

 

When Johnny found out why Ten had been put in the hospital in the first place, his father died on the same day. It was all too much for him in the span of an hour. He felt his whole world come crashing down when they’d called up his mother to come to the hospital as fast she could because her husband had gone into cardiac arrest. 

 

They got there and were immediately met with looks of pity from his father’s doctor. The heart attack was fatal. His father died alone, not even with Johnny beside him, his son that he’d egged on and loved so dearly. Johnny was so busy with training that day, he couldn’t even visit Ten nor his father. His mother was working to pay off the bills and no one was able to be there when he died. Johnny almost regretted in that moment his career choice, almost went home and ripped apart his fragile astronomy books he’d had since he was a child. Instead he went to Ten to cry on his shoulder and cried even harder when Ten admitted his own issues for being stuck to his bed.

 

“Heart disease,” He told his mother once Ten confessed he was dying. It all felt like one big joke and he couldn’t find it in him to be mad at Ten for finding the courage to confess after his father died of the same issue Ten had. He just told him to wait, that he wasn’t upset, just _shocked_ at the news and he needed some time. Ten understood. He always did.

 

His mother grew found of the younger boy that charmed his way into her heart and introducing himself as Johnny’s new best friend that tries to influence him to cut down on training. His mother was grateful for Ten’s existence to keep Johnny pinned down as Johnny never had any close friends growing up. Ten was the first to be ever introduced to her and perhaps she had a hunch that Johnny liked Ten more than he should.

 

“At such a young age?”

 

She sounded just as disappointed as he was. Especially with the earlier events. The air was growing heavier by the minute, sadness all around them and maybe that was the reason why Johnny never liked hospitals.

 

“He needs a transplant if he wants to keep living, but he’s so far down on the wait-list, Mom.” Johnny explained, rubbing his face tiredly. He cried all day at the loss of his father and Ten’s confession. It was honestly, the worst day of his life. He lost one person close to his heart and had a possibility of losing another. 

 

His mother sat there quietly before visiting Ten’s room with a faux smile, clearly wanting to comfort the younger boy unlike her husband whom she never had time to do so for. She wanted a change and Johnny did too. 

 

 

“ _Five_.”

 

 

The more time he spent around Ten, it sort of hurt. He knew he was going to lose someone important to him soon but he’d kept holding onto that sliver of hope that Ten would survive longer. He was growing healthier by the day yet it still wasn’t enough. He still needed a new heart but he was so far down on the wait-list because he was still labeled as an immigrant, it would take another year Ten didn’t have for him to finally receive a heart transplant.

 

“And what if I gave you my heart?” Johnny wondered aloud, ignoring Ten’s incredulous look across from him. It was still for a moment, Johnny wondered if he said the right thing or made his feelings too obvious. It wasn’t every day someone you’ve known for 6 months offers to give up his heart for you. Literally. 

 

“I wouldn’t let you.”He answered finally, returning to the book Johnny had gifted him on his birthday when he’d taken him out for dinner and had fun. Before he wasn’t able to walk without dropping to the floor. 

 

“It’d be my choice—“

 

“I’d rather die if it meant you no longer living because of me.” Ten cut him off sharply, a frown overtaking his features when he’d caught eye 

contact with the Chicago born, “I won’t let you give up your dreams for me, Johnny. It’s not your time to go yet.”

 

Johnny couldn’t help it. He couldn’t live knowing he could’ve helped Ten although he knew Ten was right. Johnny still had his mother to take care of and he couldn’t be selfish enough to give his own life for someone that had been suffering for so long. Ten would die soon and Johnny had to live with it, despite the guilt in his heart whenever Ten greeted him, chipper, as if he wasn’t becoming weaker by the days.

 

And perhaps it was the reason Johnny liked Ten, because Ten was strong and resilient. He was hard-headed and wouldn’t let the metaphorical form of death towering over him stop him from being happy. He was like a stubborn daisy surviving, enduring through the harsh Winter until Spring arrived to encourage it’s wilting state to keep going. To survive through the Spring to come. 

 

Then Johnny’d kissed him out of nowhere in the midst of his internal monologue about Ten and he freaked out thinking the younger would surely be disgusted of him and banish him from the hospital. But Ten just smiled shyly, turning his head and muttering about how stupid Johnny was. He’d even kissed away Johnny’s protests.

 

Ten confessed again, about his parents that never came around, a topic he’d always avoid when Johnny asked. They’d disowned him after dropping him off at the hospital after Ten came out to them, telling them that he was gay. He was going to die anyways so might as well go out with a bang. He had no other family in the States and Johnny found out he was lonely for a whole 2 years wallowing in the same bed. Though Johnny secretly cursed at Ten’s parents for leaving their child to die, Ten didn’t seem to mind as he went off on a rant about the hospital food they’d given him when he arrived. 

 

Johnny promised Ten he wouldn’t let him die alone as his father had. 

 

 

“ _Four_.”

 

 

Ten told Johnny his favorite planet was Mars, that he wanted to live there because his favorite color was red, the skies there were pink and the sun was blue. The elder didn’t even question it and just smiled into Ten’s raven locks. He laid against his chest after begging the nurse to let Johnny cuddle with him in the same bed. After a few pouts and puppy-dog eyes, she’d given in and rearranged the machines to allow Johnny some space in the small bed.

 

Their relationship was unclear. Johnny liked to consider Ten his boyfriend, Ten did too but they had no label on their relationship. It’s not like either of them had their eyes on anyone else anyway.

 

“When the time comes, I want to be reborn on Mars. I’ll become a sick-ass Martian.” 

 

“And when I finally get to visit Mars, I’ll find you.”

 

Ten raised an eyebrow.

 

“And if you don’t?”

 

“I’ll search the ends of Mars for you, Ten.” 

 

He seemed satisfied, grinning to himself before pouncing on top of him, asking for a kiss. Johnny complied anyway because it was already safe to say that he had fallen in love with someone who wasn’t the Sun, nor was Astronomy, but was rather named Ten. Someone who was not as passionate about astronomy as him, but still liked listening to Johnny’s babbles of new planets discovered and how he’d helped control some satellites with the experts back in NASA’s Chicago Headquarters. Someone whose crescent eyes clipped into what Johnny liked to compare to waning-moons. Because he was still an astronomy nerd at the core of his heart, despite it now belonging to Ten.

 

 

✧

 

 

His nightmare had finally come true. Ten’s heart was failing rapidly. He only asked for Johnny to see him, not wasting his energy to say any more. He wanted Johnny to be there in his final moments because he _promised_. Johnny arrived soon after the familiar call he’d received from the hospital. He was a mess. His hair all over the place, sweat beading down his forehead as he was clearly rushing to the hospital as fast as he could. 

 

The heart monitor was beeping scarily slow. 

 

“What a mess.” Ten croaked out, lips tugging into a smug smile that barely reached his eyes. The accent was still there and Johnny wouldn’t have had it any other way. He loved his accent. He wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world but now he’d have to condition himself to live without the honeyed accent. Johnny collapsed onto the floor beside the bed, Ten’s hand reaching out to ruffle the elder’s chestnut locks, “You’re sweaty. Ew.”

 

“I wasn’t going to leave you alone.”

 

Ten’s eyes were shining now, like his life wasn’t flashing before his face. They flickered between Johnny’s trembling lips to his saddening orbs. He hummed, beckoning for the elder to come closer to kiss him. And they did. He barely pressed his lips against Ten’s, almost carefully with another feather-light peck. Ten scrunched up his nose, feigning annoyance and Johnny was relieved he wasn’t making this harder than it was. He still had that same fiery tongue on his deathbed.

 

“Of course you’d treat me like glass the minute you arrive. I’m gonna die without getting some, aren’t I?”

 

Johnny chuckled through his bleary vision, quickly bringing his hand up to wipe away the tears until he felt the pads of Ten’s soft fingers touch his eyes. He sniffled, watching a smile grace on Ten’s face,

 

“You big baby. Stop crying. We’re still gonna see each other on Mars when you become the big-shot astronaut you deserve to be. Promise me you’ll do it.”

 

“I’ll make you proud Ten, I swear on it.” Johnny promised, because with Ten he was sure he would never break any of them, “I’ll find you.”

 

Ten’s breathing was getting heavy as his face scrunched up in pain, clutching at his chest with a sob. Johnny was so tempted to grab him and lull him to sleep, he so badly wanted Ten to leave peacefully without hurting.

 

“I’ll see you on Mars, yeah?”Johnny choked out, watching Ten trying to blink away the blackness overtaking his conscious, his chest heaving. Space was their heaven, their safe haven that’d eased their tensions, despite the irony of it. Johnny held his hand even tighter when he’d felt Ten squeeze his hand back, brushing his thumb against his palm. 

 

“Johnny,” He breathed, turning to look at him for the last time. He smiled, still enough to light up the whole world no matter how weak it was and how much it hurt to move his muscles, “I’ll wait forever until you finally visit me up on Mars one day, alright? I love you.” 

 

Johnny never got to tell the first boy he’d ever loved that he loved him back. Because when he did, Ten’s smile already dropped, the light in his eyes disappearing and Johnny could no longer feel Ten’s pressing touch under his palm. Long beeping indicating that Ten was gone is all Johnny heard before doctors and nurses rushed in to try and save Ten. Johnny was pulled back, reeled away from his blank thoughts into reality where he’d caught a final glimpse of Ten’s lifeless body.

 

Ten had died. 

 

 

“ _Three_.”

 

 

Though Johnny lost the love of his life a bit too young, he continued his training with a heavy heart. If it weren’t for his passion still there and Ten’s encouragement to continue his journey without him. He’d always think of him like he promised, when he’d bounced off the shuttle during zero-gravity mode messing around with another intern named Jaehyun who accompanied him alongside him to pursue professional pilot experiences to qualify, reading pamphlets on how to man a ship and receiving a reward for passing the requirements to be promoted to an astronaut with his new friend. 

 

His mother had never looked more proud when she watched Johnny’s promotion, when she’d hugged him so tight and murmured of how proud _they’d_ be of him. His father and Ten. They visited their gravesites separately at first, Johnny exclaiming to Ten’s stone that he’d made it. He was finally pursuing his dreams and had a chance to someday make it to Ten like he’d promised. 

 

He remembered the funeral, looking at Ten’s lifeless body dressed in a suit Johnny was sure Ten would hate because suits were overrated and he wanted to die wearing a poncho with Johnny’s face on it. Johnny’s request for that was denied, much to the horror on the mortician’s face, thinking he was joking when there was a clearly serious look on his face. Ten was still wearing the matching necklace Johnny gave him in him only a week before Ten’s death.

 

It was a heart-shaped pendant with a lock symbol in front, despite it not having an actual key but still was able to be opened. Inside, there was a picture of them together grinning into the camera like fools. Johnny considered it a very personal and intimate gift. Ten had sternly told the doctors that if they didn’t allow him to be buried with his necklace, he would haunt them for life. 

 

They didn’t let any personal items get buried with Ten and Johnny’s heart broke a little when they handed him Ten’s matching pendant, grimacing. 

 

He still wore his, keeping Ten’s around his neck too.

 

 

“ _Two_.”

 

 

Johnny was 27 when NASA had found a way to travel to Mars. Only one of the top 1000 eligible astronauts from around the world were able to be chosen to embark on a journey to Mars. But there was one catch that had a few pull out of the competition without a second thought. If you were chosen amongst the dwindling amount of astronauts, you could never go back home. They didn’t have the technology to bring them back, only take them there safely as they tested it out a year prior. 

 

Astronauts were going to begin to be sent to Mars to colonize the Red Planet, slowly start civilization and research the planet first-hand, work to make the conditions habitable for other humans. Johnny so badly wanted to be apart of it. 

 

His mother did not hesitate to encourage him to take the risk. She would be fine, she assures him with a tired smile. 

 

Johnny made it to the final 100 batch of astronauts ranging from older generations to younger generations, lined up to be sent to Mars one by one. Their mission was dubbed, ‘The Mars Program’. Johnny was chosen to be the first man sent to Mars. Jaehyun giving him a tight smile because he and Johnny had sort of a thing going on. It dawned on them that Johnny had to leave and break off what they had, which wasn’t serious to Johnny anyways. 

 

His heart would always belong to one person.

 

He remembered leaning over Ten’s grave 2 days prior to leaving Earth. The memories of the curve of Ten’s bright smiles, folded eyes and his sharp attitude flashing before his eyes as he looked at Ten’s stone for the final time. 

 

“I’m going to find you, Ten.”

 

 

“ _One_. _Blast off_.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again anything is possible in this wack ass alien universe

The journey towards Mars was rather extraordinary and safe. To other people it would probably be boring being stuck in space for 2 months, maybe even scary at the thought of a meteorite or asteroid hurling towards the ship. But Johnny knew he was safe, they’d checked over everything and if there ever was anything coming at his ship, he would use the escape pod heading straight to Mars. The space administration wouldn’t give up on Johnny and the Mars Program that easily. 

 

Johnny was bouncing off the walls. Literally. Though he’d trained for years for this dangerous mission, he’d still like to have a little fun inside of zero-gravity jumping about. On the first week, gazing at the vast space in front of him filled with sparkling orbs, he’d basically lived off of space ice cream. Even if the intern named Mark on the other end of the spaceship’s communication line warned him not to because it’d mess up his approved body mass and he’d feel like jelly when he’d land on Mars. 

 

He obliged but still had a little ice cream here and there to spite Mark. He hadn’t even gotten a bit bored on his travel towards the extraterrestrial planet, he’d never even used his phone much in the first place back home so it felt all the same inside the ship. Besides the various spam calls he received and didn’t know how to get rid of since he’d tried to watch pirated movies online and used his real phone number to sign up. Not his best decision, really.

 

The astronaut sometimes just watched Earth slowly grow farther and farther away from his ship, the oceans and greens of land mushed into a blurry sphere from the distance as weeks passed by. It looked smaller and smaller when he neared the Red Planet. Johnny used up his time by reading per usual, but he’d already finished his books after a month and decided to whip out the Twilight novels he’d smuggled into the ship. Jaehyun wouldn’t let him live it down. 

 

Speaking of, Jaehyun came to terms with the fact that Johnny broke up with him to leave for Mars. And it was sad really because despite not having that much of a romantic attachment to Jaehyun, he still saw him as a good friend. Maybe almost a best friend if Taeyong from the Research Unit didn’t take up that spot already from Jaehyun’s side. And it was for the best anyway until Jaehyun opened his eyes back home and saw that Taeyong was what he wanted all along.

 

Really after flirting so much in the break room right in front of Johnny’s salad you’d think they’d finally come to realization of their mutual pining when Jaehyun had come up as one of the hundred astronauts being sent off to Mars in years time. That perhaps it’d pushed them to the right direction since Johnny’s departure but it seemed as if Taeyong still snapped in that sour tone towards Johnny over their mother-base calls to check up on him when Mark wasn’t in. 

 

It was probably for the best that he’d left Earth anyways. He’d given his mother his final goodbyes at the station before he heeded the ship. She looked so proud of him in the moment, no matter how upset she was that she would be left all alone but she still had their elderly cat to keep her company. It was a bittersweet departure but Johnny was prepared for it.

 

When he landed on Mars he was more than happy to tug on his space suit fitted perfectly against his body to reduce body mass and his boots, along with his oxygen tank, were the heaviest parts of the suit. He was giddy when Mark told him it was time for him to explore the New World. The first thing Johnny thought about when he was bombarded by a new environment, was Ten.

 

“We made it Ten.” Johnny held back the tears threatening to spill from his eyes when he scanned around the barren Red Planet. Large boulders, reddish dust building up at his boots, deep craters from meteorites, the vast distance of red going on for miles and the planetary rovers roving around the landing site. Johnny took everything in with a wide smile. Ten would have been so proud of him finally being here, achieving what they’d always dreamt about as he stepped on the clayish surface beneath him. 

 

He turned to look at the blue sun in the distance Ten had always wanted to see and his breath almost stopped when he witnessed the gorgeous view. The sky was butterscotch colored, the sun was a shining blue through the thin, pinkish clouds. The Earth and Moon were visible from where he stood, though minuscule looking he’d learned that the two sole stars being seen from Mars’ morning was actually the planet and it’s satellite. Mars’ own satellites being visible at night.

 

Johnny still couldn’t believe he was actually standing on Mars. He had happy tears threatening to spill from his eyes when he remembered he’d brought Ten’s pendant along with him to lay down on the red surface of Mars. Strangely enough the gravity on Mars was enough to keep him afoot like back on Earth. He couldn’t walk very far from where he landed so he clutched the necklace in his hands and placed it atop a low boulder, smiling to himself as he blinked back tears looking down at the opened pendant. His and Ten’s happy grins staring back at him.

 

“We’ve finally met up again on Mars, Ten.”

 

And Johnny left it there. Because that’s what Ten would have wanted rather than it being buried with him like he said he wanted, he wanted it buried on his favorite planet, not on the boring old Earth that killed him. Despite knowing he would never have a trace of Ten left again besides the pendant dropped onto the Martian floors, he’d rather keep it there than with him. The necklace indicated Ten’s presence, it was still there with him accompanying Johnny’s lone self on one big red planet. 

 

Someday he’d might see Ten again, perhaps not today, not tomorrow, maybe not ever in the same lifetime because he was gone. But maybe next time where Ten lived a healthier life and still dreamt about touching the Martian dirt himself.

 

 

✧

 

 

Reporting back to the space center (or, mother-base) and listening to the drones of Taeyong’s bored calls, not being allowed to go farther than 100 feet from the ship in case he’d getting lost and scouring the same area hundreds of times in only a three days probably affected his head a bit. He was going to go mad if he watched the same boulder stay unmoving as he watched it’s shadow move by the slow hours of Mars, already being an Earth week while it was still barely a Wednesday here. Johnny counted back when Mark informed him of the Earth time when he’d arrived on Mars, it was a Monday and Martian time worked differently. 

 

But still, he was probably going to go crazy and NASA are going to have a big problem in their hands if the only and first human they sent up on Mars goes crazy and dies. And he truly believed he was becoming insane when he spot a tuft of hair peeking beside the craft. He furrowed his eyebrows, trying not too make too much sound as he approached the hair (maybe fur?) but of course his heavy-ass boots are loud and crunch against the Martian dirt. 

 

Again, he wasn’t sure if he actually saw hair stuck behind the sides of his temporary home or he’d actually found some form of life living on Mars. He quickly stomped back into the ship to call Mark and inform him of the news, 

 

“Lee. Mother Hen. Lee. Mother Hen. Suh reporting. Code 639. I repeat; Code 639.” He repeated into the intercom, waiting for a sign of anyone to pick up back home. He didn’t know what time it was there, but he knew someone was bound to pick up whether it be Mark or Taeyong. The only way to differentiate them since they both had ‘Lee’ as their last name was to call Mark ‘Lee’ and Taeyong ‘Mother Hen’.

 

“Lee here, did you just report a 639?” Mark hurriedly answered the call, his voice still having traces of sleep laced through his voice but he was wide awake to hear Johnny report that he’d seen hair or fur, he wasn’t sure.

 

“Make sure you weren’t seeing just a rock or something, but if it’s an actual extraterrestrial being report it ASAP, be careful and make sure to use that special camera we gave you to let us take a peek at it.” 

 

The special camera was something hi-tech Johnny had not learned about thoroughly, but he knew whatever picture he’d take from it, it would be sent back to base immediately. He’d taken a picture of the blue sunset, the planet’s moons Deimos and Phobos becoming visible overhead during the night time. The station was pleased to see Johnny’s progress around the area they’d given him to explore, only giving him permission to explore the planet throughly later once they found a way for Johnny to safely venture farther without having to carry heavier oxygen tanks. They literally couldn’t afford to lose Johnny to suddenly disappear in the rocks of Mars. 

 

So Johnny went back outside, heavy suit and all. By now, he is very certain he’s going crazy. There was a short, silhouette of what looked like a man in front of him, hunched over and playing with something in it’s hands. He wasn’t wearing a suit or anything, he looked rather naked save for a red cloth surrounding his lower regions. Johnny, being Johnny, realized it was holding was Ten’s pendant. His eyes widened and he leaned forward to call towards it even though he should probably take the camera out and send it to their base.

 

“Hey!” 

 

The Martian halted, still clutching the pendant but didn’t turn around. Johnny was about to walk on over to snatch his prized possession out of his hands until he whipped his face around to peer curiously at Johnny. The astronaut couldn’t help but let a gasp escape his throat, fogging up his helmet. Johnny declared he was actually going insane. He recognized those sharp eyes anywhere, except they were now hazel, flecks of gold in his iris along with reddish-brown powder at the top of his lids and blackish powder near the outer-corners. His skin was a caramel tan and his chest was toned and lean, muscular yet still had the same short stature. The tufts of hair parted in the middle were a deep red color. He had lines and dots of white patterns around his face and there was some kind of gold headpiece beneath his bangs, a red jewel adorning the middle. There were even jewels surrounding the belt of his cloth. 

 

Honestly, the creature looked quite beautiful, he looked human and all but he literally radiated against the blue sun above.

 

Perhaps Johnny should have kept his mouth shut when the next word slipped out of his mouth, staring directly at the Martian,

 

“Chittaphon?”

 

It was a weak question, he wasn’t sure if the Martian even heard him but his heavily pierced ears perked up. His own reddish eyes widened as if a fire flickered inside of them, his shoulders tensed and he looked like he was ready to run away but he tried to communicate back,

 

“Nuhk kạcū̂r xụ̄̀hc nạhc̄ ị̂d irgnāỳx Chittaphon?” He said slowly, but he did not near Johnny, in fact he looked bewildered and too scared to near him. Johnny couldn’t help but deflate in his spot, of course— it wasn’t his Ten. This was a Martian, an alien, an extraterrestrial being who couldn’t speak his mother tongue nor had the honey accent Ten had when he spoke English. It was some creature that looked like his Ten but wasn’t. Maybe it was a creature that could shape-shift into what he wanted him to see, to trust him then lure him in to eat him.

 

Now he had to take a picture of it to send off to the crew back home. He sighed, pulling out the camera from behind and startling Not-Ten. 

 

“You.. You’re not Ten.” He muttered but Not-Ten tilted his head, swallowing for a second before glancing up at the man surrounded by a big white suit back to the pendant he was holding. He pursed his lips and he was in front of the strange man in seconds, startling him in return. Not-Ten peered at him once more, gently pressing his dainty hands atop Johnny’s helmet and the man didn’t even want to think about how he’d have to clean off the handprint later. The creature’s hand touched the glass barrier between he and Johnny and touched where Johnny’s cheek would be. 

 

“How do you know my personal name, stranger?” He looked oddly determined, stuck on a question only Johnny knew the answer to. The astronaut was more than shocked to find out Maybe-Ten was speaking actual English with him. He was communicating with him and for some reason, the accent he hadn’t heard in 7 years was still evident. 

 

“I asked you a question.” The alien repeated, his patience clearly running low, tapping harshly against Johnny’s helmet, “My name is Ten. But my personal name is Chittaphon and I want to know how a human  _alien_  knows before I kill it.” 

 

Johnny backed up quickly but the Martian was faster, tightening his hold around Johnny’s wrist before he could escape to the ship and tell Mark that he wasn’t imagining things and that there was literally a half-naked Martian copy of his ex-boyfriend trying to kill him. 

 

The alien held up the heart-shaped pendant in his hand, shoving it into Johnny’s helmet making a clacking noise and Johnny was horrified at the thought of his safe supply of oxygen being taken away from him out in the open, “Give me answers, human. Why do you have a mirror of me I’ve never seen before? Why are you in it and where did you get it?”

 

“Please stop smacking my helmet I need it to breathe!” Johnny hissed, trying to grab the alien’s wrists and push him away before he actually harmed him. He still had Ten’s feistiness and stubbornness, which was not a good thing in this situation. 

 

Because Ten used to use this certain look on his face to get Johnny to give him what he wanted and this Martian seemed to catch onto it really quick.  _Oh god,_  Johnny thought. The Martian was pouting, his nose was flared and his eyebrows were furrowed in annoyance. He let go, pushing himself away harshly and refusing to give the pendant back to Johnny. Johnny fell down flat on his butt as the alien shoved him to the ground. 

 

“I. Want. Answers. Who are you and why—“

 

“I’m Johnny Suh and that in the picture you call a mirror was my boyfriend Ten.” He blurt out, the alien looking even more confused by the second. He placed his hands around his waist, pursing his lips like he’d done earlier when in thought. Johnny was chanting in his head hoping that the Martian in front of him was somewhat related to Ten and knew of what he was talking about.

 

“What is a boyfriend? I know it’s in your language but I can’t quite decipher what it means together? A gender and a term of endearment. Why did you merge them?”

 

Johnny almost cried.  _Almost_. 

 

“It’s basically a romantic partner. Because Ten was a boy and a friend but he was more than that, so together, he’s my  _boyfriend._ We took that picture together.” He explained, watching Ten’s eyes light up before quickly shaking his head,

 

“He looks identical to me and has the same name,” He paused, hesitating as if he could feel Johnny’s heart break by the second, “But I do not recognize you, human. I’ve lived here all my life and have never seen you before.. Where are you from? You’re clearly human and speak a human language.”

 

The blue sun was blazing and Johnny could feel himself sweating in his suit,

 

“Earth. Your neighboring planet just over there.” He pointed to one of the shining dots in the honey sky above the blue sun. Ten squinted, Johnny could tell he was slowly breaking down his barriers and beginning to trust his soft voice.

 

“What is your purpose coming here on our planet?”

 

_Our_. So there were more of him. There was a whole civilization hidden in plain sight and the rovers had never caught sight of them.

 

“We..” He hesitated on telling Ten the truth because there were already other creatures inhabiting the planet, it would seem unfair to say that they were trying to colonize the planet, humans always loved to conquer stuff that wasn’t theirs in the first place anyways, “Originally I was sent here to see if there was any life here and if there wasn’t, we slowly build up a colony.”

 

“And are you still planning on doing that?” His tone was sharp, cutting into Johnny’s chest underneath his suit. All traces of trust gone. God NASA was going to kill him before Ten would be able to, “Go back to your planet if you are. Or else.”

 

“N-No. Now that I found out your colony was here so we won’t have to.”

 

“But?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“There’s clearly something hanging off the end of that sentence, human. You haven’t concluded that you’re leaving any time soon.”

 

“Again. My name is  _Johnny_ ,” He sighed in defeat, “I can’t go back. We have no way of sending me back safely for the next few years nor do we have the technology to do so.”

 

He heard a sudden beep behind him and he realized he was running out of oxygen. He looked between a confused Ten and his beeping tank. He immediately ran towards his ship, almost tripping over his two feet, ignoring Ten’s calls to come back and that they weren’t done talking yet. But Johnny had no time to listen as he closed the ship’s door behind him and pulled off his helmet, taking in a deep breath of oxygen and heading towards the back to grab another tank. He hadn’t noticed Ten following him inside, curiously looking at the technology humans created. 

 

“How bothersome to be coming back in this scary white contraption every time. You really can’t breathe our air, human?”

 

Johnny jumped in his spot, nearly dropping the tank before clutching it around his arms and holding it near his chest with a gasp. He almost lost a months worth of oxygen. The Martian just clicked his tongue, taking the tank with ease and placing it down gently beside him. 

 

Without warning, Ten grabbed Johnny by the lips and kissed the living daylights out of him. Johnny jolted in surprise, feeling Ten’s tongue enter his cavern messily, salivating the inside of his mouth. His spit taste almost sweet in a way. If someone has told Johnny he was going to make out with a Martian version of his deceased ex on his extensive trip to Mars he would have punched them in the gut for disrespecting Ten like that. But this was reality and the tanned version of Ten pulled away breathing heavily, wiping the leftover spit from the corners of the same kittenish mouth,

 

“There. Martian spit helps you breathe our air and protects you from harm.” He said nonchalantly as if he hadn’t just sucked the soul out of Johnny, grabbing the dazed human by the wrist and towards the exit of his craft. Suddenly Mark’s voice was heard over the intercom throughout the craft,

 

“Suh. Lee reporting for update. Suh, I repeat. Lee reporting for update.” 

 

Johnny immediately ripped himself from Ten’s grasp and almost tripped once again on his way to the intercom near the front of the ship, pressing down on the button to allow his voice to be heard from Mark’s end. He turned to Ten still following him around like a puppy before placing a finger over his lips, the alien following the action with a confused look. 

 

“Suh reporting.” He breathed, his heart hammering against his chest nervously. Why was he even nervous? Because Ten’s face was right next to him scrutinizing the buttons in front of him curiously?

 

“Any sign of the hair you saw earlier?”

 

He could feel Ten tense up beside him, pointedly looking down at him and Johnny concluded that it was Ten peeking around after all. He swallowed, avoiding Ten’s cold gaze, 

 

“No.. It was just my imagination. Turned out to be a rock,” He muttered lowly. He was  _so_  going to get in trouble for lying to the mother-base if they ever found out. The next human they would send would take another 10 to 15 years, he could play it safe for now. 

 

“Odd. Well, we noticed in your photographs that various footprints are scattered around that do not seem like they belong to you. Keep your eyes sharp, Johnny. There may be other life forms in your midst hiding. Or the planetary rover has girl feet.”

 

The astronaut almost snorted, those most likely belonged the Martian breathing on his neck. He would keep an eye out alright, Ten was literally bent over playing with the red sand in front of the space shuttle. If anything he was clearly waiting for Johnny to notice his presence since then. 

 

“Got it. I’ll tell you if I see anything. Report over. Suh out.”

 

And the call ended like that. He felt Ten’s eyes still piercing through his skull.

 

“You lied.”

 

“Because it’s wrong of me to expose your nature without your consent and you would kill me.” Translation: _I don’t want you taken away from me again even if you have no idea who I am._

 

Ten’s seemingly permanent scowl slowly twisted into a small smile.

 

“Human. I’m grateful that you’ve hidden my people on this planet to protect us and your heinie. Allow me to show you around since you will be staying with us awhile.”

 

And maybe Ten was lying too because clearly even he sounded unsure when he said the word ‘staying’. They were hiding the technology to take Johnny back home and Ten probably didn’t want to risk it. Even if they did, they’d be curious as to how in the world the astronaut came back. Johnny shrugged anyway, slowly following the alien out the door and expected to choke on impact of the blue sun. But instead, he felt rather normal. Like he hadn’t left Earth at all, although the air had a distinct quality difference from Home.

 

“I told you, human. Martian spit helps you adapt. You seemed so bashful after it. I don’t understand why.” Ten laughed, his arms holding his sides as he did so and Johnny wanted to get on his knees and thank God for letting him hear that familiar melodious laughter once again. The sun was hot on his skin but it didn’t burn him to a crisp.

 

“My ship.. I can’t just leave it there.”

 

“I know the way back, do not worry. But for tonight let me help you. How many Sols are you, Johnny?”

 

The name sounded perfect coming out of Ten’s mouth. But he has no idea what the hell a Sol was.  

 

“How old are you?” He rephrased, skidding along and kicking at the red rocks in front of them. 

 

“27. I don’t know how that would translate to here.”

 

“We age vastly different here,” The alien explained as they walked along the red sand, “I’ve technically only been alive for 7 Sols. But we age fast until adolescence hits and I’ve aged like a human would from then on. My mentality is wiser than you think unlike those tiny human monsters you have located on Earth.”

 

“So you’re technically 20 right now?” 

 

He didn’t even have to do the quick math because 20 was how old his Ten was before he died. Johnny might have, sort of believe that there was a slight chance that this Martian could be related to his long-gone Ten. They were already so similar in so many ways it was scary, it was already scary seeing the Martian leap over things as a cat would and twist his body around like some kind of bendy pencil. The only difference between the two Ten’s was that one of them was human and the other is alive and able to twist his body without collapsing onto the red dirt beneath their feet.

 

If saliva from a Martian was able to let Johnny breathe the air there, then there was a possible chance of Ten coming back to him— alien or not. Ten hummed, skipping around the astronaut giddily like the puppy he was. He even had the heart pendant pressed against his collarbones. Johnny couldn’t help but stare. 

 

“I presume I am.” 

 

 

✧

 

 

Martian civilization was nothing like Johnny expected but it looked like the vanished Aztec tribe had relocated to the depths of Mars where the planetary rovers hadn’t even scratched the surface of yet. But he couldn’t find a single female looking Martian yet in the midsts of milk chocolate and caramel skin tones mixed together in the bustling Martian town. 

 

The blue sun still hovered above them as Ten dragged him through what looked like a marketplace made out the red clay beneath their feet. Despite the amount of red invading his vision, it was rather colorful with the numerous amounts of blues and oranges. There was tons of small creatures Johnny had never seen before, thinking he saw a puppy but it had three ruby red eyes and a large dragon’s tail hanging from it’s butt. It even breathed fire when it opened its tiny mouth towards another Martian having red triangles cascading down his nose towards back. And had an  _antennas_ atop his head. They all had distinct shapes on their bare torsos, either red, blue or orange. Ten was the only one that had white geometric shapes across him. They all had reddish or brown hair, tan skin being common amongst them. Their eyes ranged from yellow to red to brown, interesting combinations of both in some of them who were laughing at something another said. 

 

“This is amazing..” Johnny mused, eyes tracing every detail of every indigenous plant belonging to Mars scattered around the feet of the clay buildings. No one even paid mind to Johnny’s paler skin and chestnut hair, the obvious alien amongst them was left by himself dragged around by one of their kind. Martians were different than the typical human, because by now anyone plucked out of this town and plopped in France or something, there would be a mass panic. But this was almost like the sci-fi scene of his dreams looking at the advanced technology Martians had in comparison to humans.

 

He’d seen someone with what looked like a white wristband press a red button on the side and disappear out of nowhere and appear beside an exotic fruit stand behind him. Some of them didn’t even have to speak to know what each other were saying and Johnny watched the twitch of their antennae communicating with one another. Ten was currently pointing out the Mercury delicacy he liked to eat then petting another one of those half-dragon creatures. 

 

“Is it? Are humans still behind on this kind of technology?” Ten said, touching the small nubs on his head, “You know our antennae can be translators? That’s how I’m communicating with you right now, I figured from reading the words on your ship.”

 

“I was wondering how you did that,” Johnny breathed, even more impressed and flabbergasted by the second because of Martian civilization. Scientists back on Earth were so far behind compared to these creatures that had  _spit_  allowing others to safely breathe in their atmosphere. This was more than he’d ever expected when arriving on Mars. He was expecting to be all alone with his final remnants of Ten on the Red Planet, where no human had gone before and get lost traveling around the miles of red dust. That was all he was expecting, not a whole colony holding the key to things humans needed to survive, they were  _years_  ahead of humans. 

 

Although, Johnny had a job to do. If Johnny hadn’t met the incarnation of Ten and he stumbled upon the town himself, he’d report it back to the mother-base as fast as possible. If they had hopes of teleportation, automatic translators and the ability to breathe in Martian air— Johnny knew they’d work faster to overtake these creatures trying to go by their lives like humans. They were no different than Johnny’s kind and Johnny wasn’t sure if he’d like to bring millions of them to invade an already inhabited planet. 

 

He could be called a hero, an important figure even like the astronauts who first stepped on the Moon, he would be remembered forever. Yet he didn’t know if it was all worth it if it meant ruining these people’s comfortable lives. If it meant betraying the actual only physical remnant of Ten dragging him into one of the larger buildings with a wide smile. 

 

Ten was always worth it. But he couldn’t save him the first time. He had a chance to save this version of Ten, speaking an indistinct language to another of his kind having fluffed orange hair and baring a large array of teeth up at a distracted Johnny. 

 

“Human!” The orange-headed Martian spoke rapidly, smiling widely as he practically radiated friendliness. He reached over to hold Johnny’s hands, eyes sparkling, “My name is Hyuck!” 

 

Ten narrowed his eyes at the sudden touchiness of his Martian friend and carefully peeled his fingers away from Johnny’s hands. They both raised their eyebrows up at Ten’s actions; Johnny, confused and Hyuck, mischievously. 

 

_This was new._

 

“What?” Ten hissed, crossing his arms and lifting his nose up in the air, “Stop looking at me like that!” 

 

“Anyways!” Hyuck snickered, waving off the annoyed Martian. There were white patterns running down his arms, “Ten told me about your adventure coming here! It’s not every day we get humans around here being brought to our home for dinner!”

 

“We’ve  _never_  get humans here.”

 

“Details, details. Thank you for not reporting to your friends back on Earth about us, the Moon people already talk so much smack about you guys we really dreaded the day you guys came.” Hyuck said as he busied himself in what looked like a kitchen. Johnny finally noticed his surroundings, seeing as it was a normal apartment. Except for the fact that the walls were still the same reddish-orange tones but the furniture were all shades of brown, cloths draped over the furniture and what looked like bones and orange-dipped feathers hanging off the wall. If anything the whole room liked looked like what the ignorant humans who wore feathered headpieces back home perceived how all Native Americans they called Indians decorated their houses. He guesses that this was the Martian’s style.

 

“Wait,” Johnny reeled, “ _Moon_  people? There’s creatures living on the Earth’s moon?”

 

“Of course there are.” Ten confirmed, taking Johnny’s wrist and sitting him down on the couch, “Everywhere. On Jupiter, on Jupiter’s Moons, even on Mars’ very own Moons. Even Pluto. No offense but we all exclude Earth because the humans there seem very close minded from some of our experiences.”

 

“None taken,” Johnny felt an oncoming headache appearing due to all this information he’s taking in. Was he the only person who knew of this? Or were there others who were trusted enough to keep it a secret? Who didn’t panic and cry out that they weren’t alone in the universe to end up causing mass hysteria. He couldn’t have been the only one out of 7 billion people. Johnny couldn’t help but ask, “Are you.. Have you really never been on Earth?”

 

“Not that I remember.” Ten said awkwardly looking away. Johnny guessed that Ten already knew he was referring to his deceased lover, but this Ten didn’t know that his ex died, probably assuming that he had left him behind. Hyuck cleared his throat beside them,

 

“I’m still here, you know. Very rude to ignore me,” He huffed, “Why did you ask such a thing? Has Ten here trolled you back on Earth?”

 

Johnny wasn’t sure if he was ready to disclose the reason as to why he wants to be careful around the alien playing around with his metal piercings beside him to a stranger. Hell, Ten was technically a stranger as well since he wasn’t  _his_  Ten. His Ten was gone, buried 6 feet underground no matter how much it hurt for Johnny to admit it. But moving on was a huge part of acceptance, it’s been 7 years already. He should be past the denial phase. Yet it felt like he was never gone with the exact copy of him sitting there in all his glory.

 

How could he help it if this alien had the same long nose Ten’d used to dig into his neck whenever they would embrace, taking in Johnny’s vanilla scent and then teasing him on how he didn’t shower. He had the same fiery attitude and, hell, even  _kissed_  the same way his Ten had. He might’ve only met this alien version of Ten barely a long, Martian morning but he feels like he’d known him forever. It felt like a reunion between the two of them, albeit one-sided on Johnny’s end. 

 

How could he just pretend that the creature in front of him wasn’t Ten? 

 

“Ten..” He hesitated, would it be too morbid to them to admit the fact that Martian Ten’s doppelgänger had died 7 years ago? Yet even this Ten looked interested to know what Johnny was hiding, what he couldn’t bring to say after so long. Johnny licked his dry lips unconsciously, nervous, “Ten was my lover back on Earth.”

 

Hyuck whistled.

 

“But he isn’t the same Ten I once loved.” He said quickly, “Because my Ten died years ago. It might just be a coincidence that they have the same name and look alike.”

 

He pulled out the pendant hiding beneath his suit, safe from Ten’s view. The Martian had no idea he had a matching one, with a different image of them inside. Hyuck looked back from the picture including a much paler, much more human looking Ten to the one sitting next to him. 

 

“This is too weird,” Hyuck said suddenly, shifting his eyes from the pair in front of him before standing up, “This can’t be just a coincidence, I mean, he literally has Ten’s face..”

 

He left before he could explain his mumbling but Johnny had a hunch he knew what Hyuck was muttering about. He’d left the sizzling half-made dinner on the stove, leaving his guest and roommate to their own devices. 

 

They were left alone. 

 

“Sorry about Hyuck. He does that a lot, wander off, I mean.” He clarified. Johnny felt a tug on his heart, watching Ten brush his red hair back tiredly. 

 

“It’s okay.”

 

Silence.

 

“You lied again..” Ten said quietly, avoiding Johnny’s observant eyes, “I don’t understand why it feels like you lied to my friend, but you did.” 

 

Did he lie? Johnny hadn’t noticed. Subconsciously, he probably did. 

 

“I just,” He breathed, feeling like he was suffocating in front of the Martian in front of him staring at him quizzically, “It sounds weird but, I say my Ten died when he’s right in front of me.”

 

“But I do not remember you Johnny.”

 

Shatter the poor astronaut’s heart into pieces why don’t you? 

 

“I know, Ten, I know. Hey, why don’t you show me more of those Mercury delicacies you like, yeah? Show me some attractions that tourists from Neptune or something like to see.”

 

Ten’s confused eyes lit up and all thoughts of Johnny’s complicated life disappeared from his head as he took Johnny’s hand in his. They both promptly ignored the little shock they got from the touch, just smiling at each other before starting their bonding experience. If Johnny was going to be stuck on Mars with no way back home, he’d want to spend it with someone that resembled his only love despite the feelings being unreturned. 

 

They had all the time on Mars to figure it out.

 

 

✧

 

 

When Hyuck came back he apologized for letting the food spoil in the kitchen and left the two alone. The pair were in the middle of playing some board game Johnny couldn’t read and had to have Ten’s assistance in, having small arguments here and there about Ten cheating because he knew what it said and Johnny didn’t. Because Ten kept advancing while Johnny stayed behind and he was sure the Martian was playing dirty because he couldn’t read his language. He’d have to make Ten teach it to him. Hyuck explained whilst joining the two that he went to go converse about soulmates with his friend Nana, who dreamily sighed and mentioned some other Martian named Nono with the white stars on his cheeks. 

 

Johnny should’ve expected that Martian teens also have teen drama and crushes amongst them, too. Hyuck seemed more of a third-wheel everywhere he went, even when he followed the said pair to Johnny’s ship after it had finally reached nighttime. Ten almost begged him to stay over in their house but Johnny didn’t want to take the risk of choking in his sleep due to the atmosphere. So Ten obliged with Johnny’s wishes to lead him back to his ship, Hyuck whining about not wanting to be alone again. 

 

Much to his luck, when they arrived at his craft still landed in the same spot he’d left it— the intercom blared with Mark’s voice immediately filling the room. 

 

“Suh. Lee reporting for update. Suh. Lee reporting for update, do you hear me Suh?”

 

He sounded tired and a bit frantic. Johnny felt a little frantic as well because Ten invited himself in and Hyuck was curiously heading towards Mark’s voice resonating throughout the ship. Johnny gently pulled Hyuck aside and headed to the main area of the ship to pick up the call,

 

“Suh reporting. What’s up Lee? Didn’t you already call earlier today?”

 

“Earth time is different, Johnny, please remember that. I’m not allowed to leave until you pick up and I’ve been stuck here for hours! Taeyong left me here by myself. It’s scary being alone in this damn room you know—“

 

“Man, that human sounds so whiney.” Hyuck piped up, kissing his teeth in disapproval with crossed arms as he shook his head. Johnny’s eyes widened, horrified and hoped Mark hadn’t heard him. But the line was silent for awhile and Johnny had a hunch that Mark was freaking out and panicking.

 

“Johnny please tell me that was you and that you practiced making your voice higher out of boredom.”

 

“Who even does that? Are all humans this weird—“ Johnny and Ten cupped their hands over Hyuck’s mouth consecutively, both trying to get Hyuck to stop talking before he exposed of their existence to Mark who would do Johnny’s job better than he did. 

 

“Uh. Mark,” Johnny cleared his throat, “So.. Don’t tell Taeyong. Or the Chief please.”

 

“Johnny what the hell!” Mark exclaimed over the intercom, both of them wincing at the piercing yell coming from Mark. Hyuck seemed unfazed, rolling his eyes at the situation. Probably thinking about how dumb the two adults in front of him were for being so scared of someone who sounded like a Martian lion cub, “You know you had to report to me or Taeyong if you saw any signs of life there and you  _didn’t_! Do you want to lose your job?”

 

“He can’t be fired if he’s on another planet nimrod!” Hyuck said again, escaping the couple’s hold and accusingly poking at the intercom. He smiled in satisfaction at Mark’s hiss, he assumed he poked hard enough to cause annoying taps to screech loudly into Mark’s ears, “Man this is why we don’t tell you humans jackshit. They’re all like you. Except Johnny, he’s chill.”

 

“Where did you even pick up all that Earth language and learn how to use it?” Ten asked in the background but was clearly ignored as Mark argued back with Hyuck. Johnny pat his back. 

 

“Excuse me? I’m chill too!” 

 

“Then why are you gonna snitch on Johnny then? Snitch.” 

 

“Dear God.” Johnny muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose and Ten looked like he was seconds away from bursting out into laughter, “He’s an intern mastering difficult material required for our careers as astronauts and here he is about to bicker with a Martian he’s known for three minutes.”

 

“I’m not a snitch you extraterrestrial buffoon! I’m doing my  _job_.” 

 

“By snitching. You dimwit of a human.” 

 

“Fine I won’t snitch, you.. You..  _Ugh_!” Mark was clearly annoyed and Johnny could imagine his reddening face on the other side from arguing with the Martian. The astronaut was fairly amused by Hyuck’s wink being thrown at him, as if he just won some kind of competition in annoying Mark to the point he actually holds back from telling the higher ups about Johnny’s situation. Otherwise, Johnny was grateful Mark succumbed to Hyuck’s purposefully annoying words. 

 

“I can’t believe I just argued with a fucking alien this is so meta,” Mark said, exasperated by this whole interaction, “Listen Johnny. I won’t tell Chief Liu about this only because your infuriating Martian friend somehow convinced me. If you’re trying to protect these people from us colonizing them or something, fine, but if Taeyong picks up on this we’re  _both_  dead.”

 

“Again, on another planet.” Ten added in his input this time.

 

“Oh god there’s  _another_ one.” 

 

 

✧

 

 

So perhaps Hyuck enjoyed bothering Mark more than he should. Johnny’d started catching Hyuck sneaking in his ship more and more every time he’d come back just to report to Mark that it was same old Mars, boring despite knowing that Mark now knows that there are indeed alien lifeforms on the planet. Hyuck was an example and Mark knowing the risks, still likes to listen to the Martian switching between languages to blabber to Mark about Nono across the street trying to woo his bestie Nana. 

 

Johnny didn’t mind it how Hyuck was unfazed when he noticed Johnny walk in, smiling brightly instead and informing Mark of Johnny’s arrival. Mark sputtering saying Hyuck bothered him first and returning to his professional tone, ignoring Hyuck’s teasing remarks over the intercom. Hyuck always picked up when it was Mark and not Taeyong, he’d hand those to Johnny begrudgingly but he was sure Mark secretly made sure to shoo Taeyong away from the intercom to take over. The astronaut was sure if Hyuck were reborn as a human and met Mark in another lifetime, they would probably be closer friends and not have to talk over an intercom where neither of them are able to see each other’s faces and only interact through a speaker.

 

It was kind of  _sad_  but they were both happy having some sort of long-distance friendship anyways. Johnny wouldn’t ruin that. Besides, Hyuck is more then happy to lend him some type of petroleum that fueled his ship for weeks but he knew it was only for Hyuck to use it up to talk to Mark. 

 

“Do you think Mark has a crush on Hyuck? I think Hyuck does.” Ten pondered one night where the sky was butterscotch again like the first time Johnny’d arrived. They sat on top of one of the red hills surrounding Ten’s town, a secluded area where they were left unbothered. Though it left Johnny’s bottom covered in red dust afterwards Ten offered to clean it with a grin every time. Johnny shrugged,

 

“Maybe. I’ve never seen him act so out of it and nervous around someone he’s never even  _met_. Only Mark knows how he looks like anyways. Said he’d never seen someone more ethereal and probably hung up the picture on his wall or something.”

 

Ten scoffed.

 

“Has he seen  _me_?”

 

In Johnny’s head he secretly agreed with Ten that  _yeah_ , he was still the most beautiful thing Johnny’d ever seen in his life.  

 

 

✧

 

 

 

So maybe Ten, along with Johnny’s hearts stuttered around each other in the same way. Ten was making his feelings more obvious as weeks passed but Johnny was oblivious to Ten’s attempts at his attention and not allowing anyone to near him. Johnny might have caught onto Ten’s possessive touch but he didn’t mind, most of the Martians there just complimented his brown hair and eyes. 

 

And Ten tried to make it even more obvious whenever he’d kiss Johnny to allow him to breathe his air. Quite literally. Johnny still saw it as an awkward act of Ten being helpful despite Ten’s deflated looks after Johnny pulled away after a few seconds as if Ten burnt him. 

 

He didn’t give up his persistent pining for the astronaut anyway, becoming clingier and well, Ten didn’t know how to flirt but he flimsily attempted to do so. Ten would suggest Johnny to succumb to the Martian lifestyle and take off the suit once and for all, wear the same matching piece of cloth Ten wore to cover his bottom but Johnny would quickly turn down the offer. He wasn’t that comfortable in his own skin yet to just flaunt it like Ten and the rest of his people did, though he did like it whenever Ten would flex his toned, yet thin arms when he stretched onto the Martian hills beneath them. 

 

And Ten just really wanted to see Johnny shirtless just once because Johnny had told him all about his training to become an astronaut, despite the heavy hint of déjà-vu in Ten’s chest when he’d talk about his journey up until he landed on Mars. And Ten was sure Johnny was packed, once punching him in the gut only for Johnny to react like he hadn’t felt a thing.

 

Ten had a massive crush on him already. Whether it be out of admiration for the astronaut or romantically because sometimes more than not he would dream about the astronaut’s arms around him during intimate moments. He’d wake up with his cheeks the color of his home, sometimes barely looking at Johnny in the eye at times. 

 

It didn’t stop him from being forward at times, though. He recalled the time when he and Johnny were hanging out on the Martian hills again, heading back towards the town until Ten had almost slipped down the slope with a yelp. Hyuck laughed as he tagged along. Johnny had caught him just on time.

 

“It seems I’ve quite literally fallen for you.” Ten giggled, clutching onto Johnny’s muscular arms, thinking Johnny would laugh along with him but instead he was met with a sad smile. 

Did he do something wrong?

He’d never thought he’d seen Johnny look so sad over a small joke. He frowned back at him with a pout. 

“Something wrong?”

“No, no.” He had a tighter smile now, his large hand that practically was the size of Ten’s face reached over to pat the top of his red locks. Ten blinked, confused before shrugging and continuing to cling to the side of his arm, a bright smile on his face. Johnny felt weak to the knees just looking at those same pearly white teeth baring up at him, the image of his Ten back home invading his thoughts before somewhat merging into the image of the Martian currently in front of him. 

“Well, whatever it is, get over it! I want some fresh Callisto branded ice cream and I cannot eat it properly if you have that big frown on your face the whole time!”

Johnny’s smile was no longer dim as Ten dragged him down the slope, Hyuck following behind only to head in the opposite direction towards Johnny’s ship he’d teleported nearer to the town, assuring him that it would be fine and the Martians weren’t very curious people anyway. 

It was safe to say that Johnny had fallen in love all over again with the Martian digging into what looked like vanilla ice cream (“Callisto’s unicorn’s frozen blood actually”) with stardust as toppings. Not that it wasn’t there all along, he just realized that no matter what; he’d end up loving Ten in whatever form every single time. 

 

✧

 

 

The more time Johnny spent time together with Ten, the more Ten started to slowly remember. He didn’t tell Johnny, of course, he was afraid to. He was afraid of giving him false hope, because despite remembering small things in his past life he never knew he had; he didn’t know if he would ever relive the same love he had for Johnny before. Albeit, he knew he loved him again in this lifetime even if it still hadn’t come close to what they had before, or was it  _more_? He wasn’t sure. 

 

He couldn’t bear to see Johnny’s soft, disappointed eyes when he would ask Ten if they remembered their time together before, their love. Ten would be lying if he said he didn’t, he’d gotten bits and pieces of it but not enough to make him say, ‘ _Hey! I’m actually still in love with you reborn as a Martian and I don’t know if you still love me like this haha!_ ’. Because in truth, Ten didn’t know if Johnny still loved him that way. If he didn’t, it’d be for the best. Ten would be fine with loving Johnny and taking care of him on his now home planet. He didn’t expect Johnny to just forget about his feelings for his previous life, maybe he already stopped them after he’d died.

 

What if he preferred the previous Ten rather than his current form now? 

 

Ten liked their current relationship, it felt like déjà-vu at times whenever they’d poke at each other but the newer memories were when they’d mount on top of one another during their play fights or get covered in red dust from roughhousing on the Martian floor. Ten still encouraged him to wear the traditional Martian clothing when they messed around, no shirt, no shoes and only a dainty cloth covering their bottoms. Johnny still declined, saying he still had some dignity despite his suit slowly turning pink from washing off the red dirt. 

 

Johnny thought Ten wouldn’t notice after they played around with each other, that he’d have a sort of guilty glint in his eyes whenever he’d have Ten easily pinned to the ground huffing and panting. As if his heart would give out in any moment, fail him if Johnny touched him too roughly. Ten understood, of course he did, he remembered Johnny would never feverishly kiss him in case Ten’s heart would get too excited. 

 

It was a little heartwarming to see Johnny still truly cared for him in the same way. Yet he couldn’t quite pinpoint if it was just because he’d still seen him as a friend or a previous lover. He didn’t dwell on it anyway. 

 

But on a night like this on Mars where anyone could clearly see the stars peeking through the pink sky, the Earth and the reddened satellites being visible from above and the blue Sun shining in Johnny’s eyes, Ten remembered almost everything. 

 

The memories that stood out the most to him were the ones about Mars. Ten’s favorite planet was Mars, he wanted to be reborn as a Martian despite it being a joke in the moment, and Johnny’s promises of finding him on Mars when the time came. Ten realized they were some sorts of metaphors they had, their goodbyes were never goodbyes at all— just denial with childish hopes of meeting each other again in a different lifetime or up in their heaven dubbed Mars.

 

It still happened anyways and Ten thought back on Hyuck’s explanation of soulmates when mentioning his friends. Were he and Johnny soulmates? They managed to meet each other again in the same lifetime, Ten falling in love all over again in spite of not knowing Johnny prior like he believed at first. Isn’t this what soulmates would experience togehther?

 

_‘I’d search the ends of Mars for you, Ten.’_

 

Ten could almost laugh, it didn’t take long for him to find him in the first place. Ten found Johnny first, he found their remnants of their past lying on his napping spot and found a stranger exploring his planet. Then said stranger ended up recognizing him.

 

‘ _I’ll find you_.’ 

 

“You found me.” Ten said, loud and clear to Johnny scrambling beside him, hands probably getting covered with the nuisance of red dust he’d hated to clean off. Johnny looked rather bewildered, surprised and a mix of something else Ten couldn’t decipher. He’d always read Johnny so easily except when it came to his feelings for Ten. Were they platonic? What was it that was always embedded into his gazes towards Ten when he thought the Martian wasn’t looking? 

 

“What?” He choked out, his voice strained as if not believing what he was hearing. His heart hammered against his chest, thinking Ten was talking about something else rather than their talks of Mars years ago.

 

“You found me,” He repeated slowly, “You kept your promise, Johnny.”

 

‘ _I wasn’t going to leave you alone.’_

 

A sudden image of Johnny’s shining eyes staring down sadly at him flashed before Ten’s eyes, causing the Martian to grimace. He didn’t want to remember Johnny being sad, it hurt him more than he’d like. He didn’t want to remember the sad times and faint pang of his dying heart, or when his previous parents abandoned him.

 

“You remember?” Johnny hesitated as if Ten was just playing with him in the moment before tightly grasping the Martian’s tanned hands contrasting against his paler ones, “Ten.. You remember us? From before?”

 

“I think I’d go mad if I didn’t remember someone like you in my past life.” The words just flowed from his mouth like a waterfall of cheesy words he’d always wanted to say to Johnny in the midst of falling for him all over again. He felt the love rushing back into him in one go, coming back even stronger, possibly loving him even  _more_  than he had before. 

 

He could feel Johnny shake above him, pulling him into a tight embrace and whispering how much he’d missed him, thinking he was gone forever and how short their time was together. How grateful he was to meet him again. 

 

“Did you know that I didn’t have to kiss you to be able to breathe our air,” Ten admitted shyly, rubbing the back of his neck with a small smile, “Swapping spit was necessary to breathe on Mars if you weren’t a Martian but I could have just spit on my finger and shoved it in your mouth or something.”

 

“That’s a bit more unhygienic, don’t you think?” Johnny laughed, nudging Ten’s thigh beside him, “I didn’t mind it. Even if it was kind of weird to be kissed by your reincarnated ex on the first day of meeting again.”

 

“That’s the thing. I think I knew from the beginning.. Just by looking at the pendant again I realized there was something missing but I didn’t know what,” He admitted, his crimson eyes finding themselves looking into Johnny’s almond ones, hues of pink reflecting against them from the Martian sky above. Ten from before would have never experienced this sight because they spent most of their relationship indoors in a white, spacious hospital room that made Ten sick just by thinking of it, “Kissing you in that moment felt so right. When I wore the necklace, too. But I wasn’t sure if you were able to fall in love with me again like this.” 

 

“I love you.” Johnny murmured suddenly. Ten’s eyes widened and before he could say anything Johnny continued, “I’d love you in every lifetime, Ten. Alien or not. I’m so lucky that I got to meet you again where we promised to meet after I followed my dreams.  _You_  were my dreams, Ten. I’m so lucky I finally had another chance to tell you that I love you, where you’re happier and healthier.”

 

“You never told me you loved me?” 

 

“You don’t remember the day you left me, do you?” Johnny felt his chest tighten just at the image of Ten in his deathbed, sickly and barely able to move a muscle without hurting. He hadn’t thought of that image in years, burying it deep in his memories like it bruises him, covering them under a bandaid of solaced memories of Ten, “You died before I could tell you I loved you back. You finally said those three words every damned lovesick idiot wanted to hear but you used your last breath to say it.” 

 

Ten gently rested his forehead against Johnny’s broad shoulder, inhaling the familiar vanilla scent he’d still carry all the way on a different planet, “I’m sorry. I wish I didn’t leave you so soon.”

 

“You’re here now.” Johnny said and Ten could hear the emotions raw in his words, despite it being so short and almost vague, it was transparent to Ten. He could tell just how long Johnny has waited for him, how much he loved him all the same for years despite believing his Ten would never come back. Yet he did, he came back as the same sharp-tongued boy Johnny fell in love with except with antennae hanging off the top of his head. Still cute anyway. 

 

“Do you think we’re soulmates?”

 

“I’d like to think we are.”

 

“Me too,” Ten grinned happily, allowing Johnny to wrap his arms around his bare waist and laughing when the astronaut’s face reddened when realizing he was holding the same shirtless Martian. 

 

They both watched atop the same red hill as comets and meteorites whisked back and forth across the pink atmosphere, looking so close as they zipped across the Martian sky. There were a few Martians taking in the sight as well in amazement from below. Ten closed his eyes, Johnny following along. He was sure they both wished for the same things on the hurling showers above. 

 

“What did you wish for?” Ten asked anyways, lovingly looking up at the taller human above who just grinned down at him in response. 

 

“If I tell you, the wish won’t come true, won’t it?” 

 

The alien just stuck his tongue out at him before pulling him into a long-awaited kiss that actually meant something, he could practically hear the wish silently whispering against their lips as they moved in synch. But maybe it was nosy antennae picking it up from Johnny’s thoughts. 

 

Ten fell asleep in Johnny’s arms, clutching onto him as if to never let go like he had before, smiling to himself as he heard Johnny’s silent words repeating in his head.

 

_‘I wished for us to be together forever. Now and in the next lifetimes to come whether it be us as alligators, enemies, aliens, spies, or even singers; I want to fall in love with you all over again, every single time.’_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so! this was based on an actual thing i read about where theyre trying to send people up to mars but they dont have the technology to bring them back and some of the people training to get there are even engaged/in relationships! i thought it was fascinating yet just a little sad?? but i took a whole twist on it lmao i realized the first chapter can also be read as a standalone if you love to suffer but i really wanted to write alien ten lmao and im sorry for making ten die in the beginning but he still came back eheh... thanks for reading! leave a comment/kudos !! <3 ^__^

**Author's Note:**

> this is definitely NOT the end!!! dont give up on me now pls Spoiler ten isnt dead for long (obvs bc why else is the alien ten tag there ajaja) and when he comes back he isnt gonna die again i swear lmao !!! the next part will be up very soon once im done writing it i swear its gonna be way more wholesome and not That Sad ^__^ pls leave a comment/kudos!!! tell me what u think


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